Meliboea orMeliboia (Ancient Greek:Μελίβοια) was a town andpolis (city-state)[1] ofMagnesia inancient Thessaly, mentioned byHomer, in theCatalogue of Ships in theIliad, as one of the places subject toPhiloctetes.[2] It was situated upon the sea coast,[3][4] and is described byLivy as situated at the roots ofMount Ossa,[5] and byStrabo as lying in the gulf between Mount Ossa andMount Pelion.[6]
The town was famous for itspurple dye.[7] Even down to the 19th century, the shellfish from which the purple dye is obtained were found off the coast of Thessaly.[8]
Herodotus mentions it as the place where severalPersian ships under command ofXerxes I crashed during a storm, prior to theBattle of Thermopylae (480 BCE), while other Persian ships crashed adjacent toSepias and others in front ofCasthanaea.[3]
During theRoman-Seleucid War, it was one of the Thessalian cities that in the year 191 BCE, being held byAthamanians, was taken by a joint army of the RomanMarcus Baebius Tamphilus andPhilip V of Macedon.[9] It was conquered by theRomans in 168 BCE and plundered.[10]
Meliboea was taken and plundered by theRomans underGnaeus Octavius in 168 BCE.[10] Meliboea is also mentioned byStrabo,[11]Stephanus of Byzantium,[12]Pomponius Mela,[13] andPliny the Elder.[14]
Its exact location is unknown, but it is usually located near the modernAgia, at the place calledKastro Velika, located in the community ofVelika, municipal unit ofMelivoia, which echoes the ancient name.[15]
Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Meliboea".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray. This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Meliboea".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
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